Lock Ben-Jason Dixon ‘loves making tackles’, and expects the DHL Stormers to stick to the plan on defence in their Champions Cup rematch against London Irish on Sunday.

The Stormers were uncharacteristically slack in a last-gasp defeat against the Glasgow Warriors in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Sunday.

With the two teams tied at 17-17 in the URC clash at Scotstoun Stadium, Glasgow launched an onslaught in the final 10 minutes which eventually paid off when wing Sebastian Cancelliere scored his second in a 24-17 loss for the visitors.

The Warriors played well from deep to get around the Stormers, executing efficiently against their reputed line speed, with John Dobson’s troops poor at making double tackles and slowing the ball down.

Addressing these issues in a media conference yesterday, Dixon told reporters: “It’s a different challenge playing the overseas teams [and] it’s not the same as playing at home and there are certain things you need to adapt to, like exiting your half and [paying] attention to detail.

“I’m not that young anymore but I’m still a young player, so for some of the young players it’s a new challenge and we feel that when it’s a tighter game … we’re playing away and the other team is not ahead by three tries [yet] we feel under pressure we’ve got to do something crazy, then we go out of system.

“So in the bigger picture, it’s about sticking to our system and just calming down a bit.

“We’ve spent a lot of time in meetings talking about the errors we’ve made, I made some errors myself.

“It’s small errors when we go out of the system, but we have a lot of confidence that our defensive system works and that’s not changing.”

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The 24-year-old added: “Personally, I love defence, I love making tackles, I love putting the opposition under pressure, and we’re not concerned that there’s something wrong with our defence.

“We’re focusing on sticking to the plan.”

Dixon, who can also play loose forward, has filled the No four slot left by injured Springbok Salmaan Moerat in the mid of a lock crisis.

On what position he feels suits his game best, the former Maties blindside flank said:  “At lock I’m probably feeling the most comfortable, having started the last three games [for the Stormers] and having gone through the details of the last few weeks.

“But I really enjoy both positions; at flank I really enjoy the freedom and being a part of the play that I wouldn’t get to at lock…I enjoy getting stuck in.

“You can move around, make the hits, defend and attack with creativity. So maybe in the future, I can grow in that position.”